


Walking Cliché

by therune



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Best Friends, Friendship, Gen, Gen Work, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: James has conquered his fears. Acrobatics, silks, the tightrope ... but why is he having problems with a simple thing such as this?





	Walking Cliché

“Come on….come on, you can do it. It’s …nothing. It’s like riding a bike…kinda. Half a bike, anyway.“

 

James sat on top of a shelf, a good 2 meters off the ground. His knees were drawn up to his chest, his hands clasped together in front of his legs. The old warehouse had been converted to his own personal gym. Mats covered most of the floor, there was a safety net set up ove easily half of the space. He checked it meticulously. More than necessary, but… he just had to.

Weights were stacked in a corner, balls of different kinds were in a big cage next to a treadmill. There were silk ropes hanging from the ceiling next to gym rings. At the very top a thick tightrope spanned the whole length of the building. The shelf he was sitting on held clothes, towels and water bottles.

He was clad in colorful leggings and a long sleeveless top.

 

Over on a blue gym mat there was a unicycle. A single wheel, a long metal rod and atop of it a leather saddle.

 

His smartphone chirped. James ignored it. It chirped again. He sighed and then slid off the shelf, dropping to the floor. His airwalkers cushioned the fall.

 

James tapped in the pin and his screen revealed two new messages from Piper.

“You up? Wanna grab breakfast?“

“My treat, as long as it’s not 100% sugar“

Both messages were interspersed with emojis, mostly musical notes.

 

On the one hand…breakfast. With Piper. Very much yes.

On the other…. there was the damn unicycle….mocking him. Glinting in the sun.

 

He’d leave the decision to Piper.

 

“I’m training at my gym. You in the area?“

If Piper was, then they’d go for breakfast. But if he was too far away…

 

“I’ll be there in 10“ More emoji.

 

So… quick shower, get dressed, should be just enough time until…

 

 

“JJ! Where are you?“

 

Piper wore black skinny jeans and a green plaid shirt. Heavy boots and a green slouchy hat completed his look.

Apparently, James was still next to the damn unicycle and hadn’t moved the whole time.

 

“You alright? Talk to me,“ Piper offered softly and crouched down, next to James.

James may be a master of reading people, but Piper was a master at reading James.

 

“I… I went back to training seriously. Cardio, weights, acrobatics. All my old tricks and new – tightrope, I learned how to do the silks, but… why can’t I …“

 

Piper shuffled closer until he could embrace James.

 

“I keep falling off!“ James complained, “I can… I got up on the freakin tightrope again. I can’t fall and… I thought… why not try the unicycle? It looks like fun… it’s like riding half a bike. But I keep… I keep falling.“

 

Falling was the worst that could happen to James. Piper knew how that, from stories about his childhood that were only half a lie, from drunken confessions and shared secrets. They were all messed up, each in their own way.

 

“Did you… did they make you try it?“ ‘they’ being his parents, of course.

 

“Once. I … I rode it. On the ground, up a ramp, down a ramp and… then I fell.“

 

“And you got hurt, didn’t you?“

 

“Ankle. Laid up for two weeks. All the…all the rants. Me not earning my keep, slacking, no training, taking money out of their pockets… I was 8.“

 

Piper squeezed him tightly and rested his chin on his head. It was all too easy to forget that James was the youngest, his bravado and cheek compensating for lack of years. His parents did a number on him… something Piper understood just too well. All of them, all the Rogues, had been damaged and when you looked closely, you could see it.

 

“You don’t have to ride the unicycle, you know.,“ Piper started, “you don’t owe it to anybody.“

 

James groaned and curled up into an even tighter ball.

 

“I know! I just… it was fun, alright. Before they took it, it was actually fun.“

 

Oh. It wasn’t proving to himself that he could do it, that he was capable and skilled. It was about reclaiming something that his parents tainted with their greed.

 

“I went on the tightrope again. All my…all my tricks. They’re mine. But… I can’t do it.“ His voice was thick with emotion. Barely restrained, like something wanting to break out.

 

Piper squeezed again. “I have a solution,“ he announced, “come on, get up.“

He got to his feet and dragged James up with him. He grabbed him by the hand and walked over to the unicycle. James went reluctantly, but he went nontheless.

 

Piper bent down and righted the cycle. “Up you go,“ he said.

 

James didn’t move. “I can’t,“ he insisted.

 

“It’s simple,“ Piper explained, “if you don’t want to fall, I just won’t let you.“

He squeezed James’ hand. “Up you go,“he repeated.

 

Hesitatingly James did. He looked uncertain.

“You… you won’t let go?“ he asked, voice small and quiet. Right now, he wasn’t the Trickster, infamous rogue, he was 8 and wanted to ride a unicycle.

“Promise?“ he asked.

 

“Promise,“ Piper replied.


End file.
